12 Responses

I think there is a chart of “people weight to dog weight” somewhere, but I haven’t looked in years. This would be a true concern of mine in any pulling situation. There is also information on internet on how to prevent metal from coming in contact with dogs.

@LM: I didn’t want Bandit to strain his muscles, but I did want him to feel free to stretch his legs. The goal was to encourage him to run — which he loves — but I was skiing the entire time behind him. And the bungee/rope was long enough to keep a safe distance between us (when he stopped, I put on the brakes, too).

I’ve been skiing since I was 5, but skiing with my dog was definitely a new challenge. I really had to anticipate his movements and slow down when he did to keep from running over the bungee rope with my skis. I think he’s a natural, though, and with practice, we should get better at working together.

p.s. We’re also amateurs. I’ve seen photos of skijoring competitions where the skiers use two dogs, which I imagine balances out the weight difference. Skijoring is also done with horses (and I have no plans to try it!).

LM, the dog doesn’t actually have to pull. When we skijor with Rocky, he typically gives us a good pull for an hour or so, but then starts getting tired. When he stops pulling, he’ll typically just trot along in front or off to the side and the line goes a little slack. When I wrote about skijoring for Explore magazine, I talked to Denise Erenstone of Adirondack Skidog. She said she’d once made a custom harness for a Jack Russell terrier whose owners wanted to take him skiing but didn’t want him running loose – obviously, he didn’t pull at all.

I don’t know a lot about cocker spaniels… it’s really going to depend on the dog and how far you want to go. I know there are breeds that would not be good candidates – any breed that doesn’t like the cold (like greyhounds) or has little endurance would not be a good choice. You would need to be careful with dogs with sensitive paws, also, though you could try booties or Musher’s Secret. I think any athletic dog (like labs, pit bulls, huskies, etc.) would probably be fine. Our first dog was some kind of beagle/shepherd mix and he did great.

If you ever have the opportunity to skijour with a breed that was intended for pulling, try it. It’s so exhilarating. I used to have two samoyed’s and they’d pull me through the snow even if I wasn’t wearing my skis. Fun times!